Hundreds of lakes in Maine are connected to each other. This is the story of two connected lakes. Lake A is the upstream lake, Lake B the downstream one. No need to name them as the problem addressed is statewide.

The two lakes are in one of the four counties I tow my boat to for recreation: Kennebec, Somerset, Cumberland and Hancock. I fact-checked this column, with a lake scientist at 7 Lakes Alliance in Belgrade Lakes, and my guess was confirmed. Algae blooms are occurring in every county in Maine. Sad.

Although this piece will refer to the harmful effects of climate change, there is a happy ending. Doom-scrollers be forewarned.

When a lake is “sick,” it turns green — just like the colorful cartoon characters in the Sunday comics. More and more often these days, green lakes are appearing throughout Maine. The culprit is algae blooms.

As I travel Maine with my boat and trailer, I see literature posted in kiosks many lake associations maintain at their boat ramps. In the literature, I repeatedly see one unforgettable photograph, an aerial photograph of Lakes A and B.

Lake A is sickly green with algae bloom. Lake B is a healthy dark navy blue. The contrast is striking. The literature both informs and invites. Because more and more lakes are threatened with algae blooms due to Climate Change, we are invited to take steps to support our favorite bodies of water.

There are many steps you can take. For 20 or 30 bucks, you can join a lake association, and those dues will contribute to conservation actions. More robust financial support is also welcome. Some conservation work is costly.

You can also make sure your shorefront property is well-buffered to prevent storm run-off, the nemesis of clear, clean, healthy water.

By far, the best thing you can do is to support land conservation. Undeveloped land is 10 times more protective of water quality than developed land. It’s hard to find a more effective method of water conservation.

If supporting land conservation interests you, 7 Lakes Alliance is an excellent resource.

For many years, Lake A turned green mid-summer. Lakeside landowners frowned, summer camp kids said, “Yuck.” Loons had a hard time seeing fish to feed on. So Lake A took action.

They surveyed the watershed and found the weak links in the chain of best practice erosion control. They buffered the shoreline. They corrected roofs and driveways that failed to direct water away from the lake. They did the frontloading to prepare for an alum treatment.

To put it in overly simplistic terms, alum is the “medicine” to treat a “sickly” green lake. Lake scientists can explain it better than this guy with a boat. The 7 Lakes Alliance website and many lake association websites explain the science behind alum treatments.

It’s important to note that alum treatments are almost prohibitively expensive. They cost millions of dollars. The old adage applies: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If Lake B is left with an alum treatment as its one and only last option, it is expected to take two years to raise the necessary funds.

The idea of an alum treatment struck me as a bit Frankensteinian when I first heard about it. But I’ve seen the miraculous results of an alum treatment. Five years after an alum treatment at one of my favorite lakes, no one is complaining. I catch and eat fish there. I swim there. Wildlife is thriving.

Sadly, Lake B, algae-free for the decade I boated on it, is now the green lake most recent summers. The effects of climate change are relentless.

But we have blueprints to treat green lakes, and Lake B is well on its way. Teamwork is vital to conservation, and dozens of volunteers alongside professionals conducted the three-day survey of the watershed. We know what remediation is needed. Thanks to generous donors, Lake B’s lake association can help shoreline camps with the cost of erosion control measures. They’ve offered $150 watershed financial awards to help fund buffering.

It might be a cliché to some, but “It takes a village” has real meaning in conservation work. Please join us.

While experts around the world worry we might be approaching a tipping point caused by climate change, I prefer action over worrying.
Countless conservation volunteers assist hundreds of professionals in conserving the lands and waters of Maine.

The Green Movement, encompassing national and international environmentalism, is a hot button issue best avoided here. What we need here, though, is an Anti-Green Movement to fight algae blooms. The stakes are high.

We have more than one blueprint for how to mitigate algae blooms and turn green lakes around. One blueprint is way too costly. Most of the others almost all of us can afford. Let’s do this.

No one, especially this itinerant guy with a boat, likes a lake that looks like a sick character in the Sunday comics.